Custodians of Beauty

Coincidentally,  St. Valentine's Day falls on Ash Wednesday this year so we moved our valentine feasting and sweet eating to Fat Tuesday.  It has not been our custom to take the kids to Mass on Ash Wednesday, since it's not considered a holy day of obligation. However, we do try to keep things low key and prayerful to help us enter into the season of Lent. (This silly little poem rings true for Catholics. Remember, you can't spell valentine without Lent!) Our children have not reached the age requirement for fasting and abstaining, but we encourage them to offer up little sacrifices (ex. going to bed without a stuffed animal for one night, letting a sibling pick which Netflix show to watch, or skipping the Mc D's fries when out and about running errands.) So far, so good! They have willingly (no whining or pouting) given up their favorites, their treasures, and their comforts for Our Lord. What pure hearts, those children have. If only we could learn to love ...

Birthday time! I'm excited to share another playful party with you. Get ready to dive under the sea with the mermaids and fishies! During the weeks leading up to the party, I reserved a bunch of children's picture books from our local library about ocean life. I was excited to immerse the girls in this new topic and teach them about the wonders of the sea. They now recognize the names of several sea creatures, where they live, and what they eat.  Our favorites include:  The Usborne Big Book of Sea Creatures ,  Has large fold-out pages and realistic illustrations of the ocean life. Little Sea Turtle . A tiny finger puppet board book with a short story about the life of a sea turtle. The Secrets of the Seashore  , From the "Shine a Light" series of Usborne books. The kids loved holding the pages up to the window to find the hidden creatures living in their habitats. What Will I Be?  Peek under each flap to see how the butterfly, polar bear, turtle, f...